It’s Friday, and let’s play ball!…

Weather: Like summer. Sunny and warm for Saturday and Sunday, with highs in the upper 80s to near 90 and lows near 60. There’s a 20 percent chance of scattered showers on Sunday afternoon, with highs in the upper 80s. Better chances of rain will come on Monday.

Conservatives sweep British elections. Prime Minister David Cameron was all smiles as he visited Queen Elizabeth II this morning, after his Conservative Party won an outright majority of seats in the House of Commons in Thursday’s elections. With races in 643 seats out of 650 called by the BBC, the Tories won 331 – five more than needed to take an outright majority and avoid having to form a governing coalition.

Sports: A big weekend. Four local high school softball teams begin play today at the AHSAA North Central Regional Qualifying Tournament at Sokol Park in Tuscaloosa. Hayden and Corner have their first Class 5A games at 1 p.m., followed by Class 6A Gardendale and Pinson Valley at 2:30. It’s a double-elimination tournament, and all four teams will play a second game tonight, depending on the outcome of their first game. Play concludes Saturday, with the top two teams in each class advancing to the state tournament next week in Montgomery…. Baseball: Pinson Valley faces its sternest test of the Class 6A post-season, as they travel to Cullman to take the top-ranked Bearcats. The winner of the best-of-three series moves on to the state championship next week in Montgomery. Play begins with a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. today; if needed, the third game will be Saturday at 3 p.m. The best place to keep up with all the softball and baseball action is on The North Jeferson News Facebook page, or our Twitter feed (@NorthJeffNews).